meanwhile
josh had arrived at his parents house after a long day at work. it might've been a pet store, but it could get aggravating. he was currently parked out front, sitting in his car. he was contemplating showing up as of right now. of course he wanted to support this sister, he loved her. but, he didn't know if he could take his family for a few hours. they were just terrible.
he was also contemplating texting tyler, telling him he's okay, that he got here safe and all. but he didn't want to seem clingy or anything so he just locked his phone and threw it in his hoodie pocket.
he sucked it up and pulled the keys out of the ignition. josh walked up the stairs to their house and knocked on the front door. he wasn't the type to just walk in. he didn't feel welcome here.
"joshua," he was greeted by his father who just nodded. "your mother is in the kitchen, get to work."
"okay one second, dad." he sighed. he was tired of this.
"make whatever it is quick." he mumbled, turning around and walking to another room.
"josh!" his sister gasped excitedly as she noticed his presence. immediately the two ran over to each other and threw their arms out.
"i've missed you so much, abby." josh smiled as he spoke, wrapping his arms around her. she was pretty much the only part of the family he could tolerate.
"i've missed you too." she said, and you could tell it was genuine. "i can't wait to move out though."
"congrats by the way." he ruffled her hair and pulled back. josh nodded in agreement. "me too, it'll be great to hang out again."
all of the sudden, "josh can you hurry up?" was heard from the kitchen.
"be there in a second!" he said all too happily. "i've gotta go. we'll catch up after dinner, if not, text me, ab." with that, josh quickly took his hoodie off and threw on the couch. he didn't want it to get dirty, it was tyler's favorite.
josh made his way into the kitchen. his mother turned around once she noticed his presence. her expression and greeting weren't the kindest.
once her eyes laid upon him, they rolled. "still with the dyed hair? you should've grown out of it by now. and the piercings?" she tsked. "you look like an absolute child."
"thanks, mom." he said without emotion.
"that's not a compliment. you need to cut it out and grow up." she shook her head and sighed dramatically. "come help me with dinner."
"if you insist." josh said with a sigh. he couldn't say no to his mother no matter how much he didn't like her. josh walked over and began doing various things helping his mother with dinner.
"you know who actually likes cooking, mom?" josh grinned a bit as he stirred some stuff in a pot.
"who?" she asked.
"tyler." josh tried not to laugh as he spoke.
"don't mention him in this household, joshua. you and your... friend are a sin. i can't even believe you. i invite you over for dinner and you bring up this nonsense." she frowned, sounding disappointed as she spoke. "don't practice that life style around any of our family members, i do not want them tainted by your repulsive decision."
and this didn't really affect josh. he was used to it. there's nothing he could do about it. if they didn't want to accept their own son, then that was their problem, not his.
"okay, i'm sorry." josh whispered, turning back to the stove. "it's done would you like me to set the table?"
"of course." laura nodded.
"okay." josh took a deep breath and walked into the dining room.
silently, josh set the table. a few minutes later, the rest of the family gathered in to eat. everyone congratulated abigail. ashley talked about how she got an award and such. jordan was abnormally quiet. josh was barely acknowledged at dinner. he didn't mind. as usual, he was used to it. after dinner was over, he helped clean off the table and put everything away. everyone was giving abigail her graduation gifts, which he had completely forgotten about. he just gave her some money and said it was from him and tyler.
after that, abigail and josh caught up somemore. it wasn't that long before the sun started setting and josh decided it was time to go back home. he said his good byes and went to grab his hoodie that was still draped over the couch from earlier. something seemed off though. it felt a little lighter than usual.
josh decided to check the pockets and make sure his phone was in there. and to his surprise, it wasn't. this left him a little unsettled. so he decided to ask around and see if anyone had seen it. no one claimed that they had. until around twenty minutes later when jordan came down the stairs.
"is this yours?" he asked josh.
"yeah, where'd you find it? thanks, man." josh said happily, takin his phone and pushing it into his pocket.
"it was in the bathroom upstairs. your welcome. you should probably be going now." jordan explained.
"i don't remember even going upstairs," josh mumbled to himself. "but bye... i'll see you guys around." josh shrugged, pulling his hoodie back on.
once josh was outside and back in his car, he opened his phone. strangely, there were no new messages from tyler. it was okay though, josh would see him in less than an hour anyways.
-—-
welp fuc k please don't kill me. updates are coming more frequently too btw.
please check out my contest, it's going to end soon!!
thank you all for reading, voting, and everything else though. 130k??? that's amazing i'm speechless?? i love you all so much!!
- angel ♡